Music education in societyhow they are applied in our daily work will be to describe certain
practical methods.1Development of a sense of melo&. The aim which it is sought to achieve
here is the systematic assimilation of the various genetic sound se-
quences. First come melodies in thirds (sol-mi), then melodies in la-
sol-mi, pentatonic melodies, and so on. For it is in this way that chil-
dren’s songs appear to have developed. (In secondary education these
early stages will not, of course, last very long.)
Assimilation makes it possible for the melodies belonging to differ-
ent sound sequences to be (a) sung at sight; (b) recognized by ear;
(c) written down after they are heard; and-most important of all-
(d) appreciated for their aesthetic value.
The various forms of activity which will help children to become
familiar with these melodic patterns include the actual singing of the
melodies, melodic improvisation, different types of dictation, exercises
in the mental representation of the melodies, and exercises in listening
to music in which the pupils try to recognize the qualities of the
melody.
They must be helped to become increasingly aware of the various
aesthetic characteristics of the melodies, to experiment with the effects
of tautening and relaxing the melodic strands, to discover the musical
properties of the tonic, the dominant, modulation and inflection, and
to appreciate the special characteristics of the minor and modal
tonalities and the absence of precise tonality of the whole-tone
scales, etc.
None of these can be primarily an abstract study but, on the con-
trary, all must be felt and experienced as essential qualities of music so
that they are properly appreciated as a means to a more active sense
of melody.
The development of the sense ofrhythm. Efforts should be made to give the
pupils a fuller awareness of the various metres and metrical divisions
and to make them more sensitive to the structural niceties of rhythm
and rhythmic polyphony.
All kinds of methods should be used to develop the sense of rhythm.
- We deal here with secondary education only. The fist fact to be stressed is that in the
primary schools music education is rather neglected. The first years of secondary edu-
cation have, therefore, to be devoted to the development of the children’s mental
faculties, but the syllabus of the upper classes can include music education proper.